There’s been a hole in the Nashville sandwich scene since Jeremy Barlow shut down his two Sloco shops on 12th Avenue and in the Nashville Farmers’ Market a few years back. The talented chef has laid low since turning the keys of the 12South Sloco and adjoining Meet Room beer bar over to the folks behind Mill Creek Brewing Co. Mill Creek operated a taproom out of the space, briefly in partnership with the team from Chago’s Cantina.
With Mill Creek’s recent dramatic sudden closing, declaring bankruptcy and emerging from said bankruptcy to reopen again, Barlow found himself in possession of his old shop again, since Mill Creek quickly pulled out of its sublease. After a few weeks of work cleaning up and converting it back to his preferred set-up, Barlow began announcing periodic pop-ups in the Sloco and Meet Room space — sometimes just selling his famously addictive baked cookies, and other times providing limited sandwich offerings.
Old-school Sloco fans will recall that Barlow was innovative in his desires to offer local, healthy, sustainable sandwiches at prices that could compete with national sandwich chains, and he still seems to have that mantra in mind with his occasional pop-ups. Hours are irregular — based on the chef’s whims and availability — but the neighborhood is happy to have him back. He has thrown Titans playoff parties and opened for lunch whenever possible, so the best bet is to follow Sloco on Facebook to see when the sammies will be served.
A more dramatic development was Barlow’s announcement that he would be offering three nights of full dinner service at the Meet Room, meals he calls “tasyt (Reprise)” in honor of his bygone eatery on 21st Avenue that was another real gem of Belmont/Hillsboro. With only 20 seats available each night for Jan. 23-25, the dinners sold out quickly, but Barlow is still accepting names for the waiting list for the seven-course dinner. Click on the link above if you want to take a chance.
Regardless of whether or not you can make it to one of these dinners, it sure is good to have this talented cook back in the kitchen. Hopefully he’ll plan more events soon!
